Salvia dorisianaThis is a late winter-early spring flowering bushy perennial from Honduras, which grows up to 2 m tall. It has large velvety leaves which have a delicious scent of fruit salad (hence its colloquial name of fruit salad plant), and spires of quite large hot-pink flowers. It can be pruned back in mid-summer as well as after flowering, to make it more compact. It does wander a little bit but is easy to rein in. It needs some water during summer. It can cope with a degree of shade; in fact, it can look better in shade than in sun as its leaves can wilt sadly on hot days.
Salvia dorisiana with pink-flowered Loropetalum chinenseIt can be a good companion to pink camellias, Luculia gratissima or silvery Plectranthus argentatus; shrubby daisies and pale blue or white Iris japonica are also pretty with it. I also think it could look good with the vivid pink and blue flower spikes of bromeliad Aechmea gamosepala as do those of the attractive - if fleeting - slim, pendulous, pink inflorescences of Billbergia nutans (ht 50 cm). Its blooming time coincides with that of the pink-flowered shrub Loropetalum chinense, which provides an effective background. It is sensitive to frost.
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